Georgia Peaches
by LobsterLobster
Summary: Rick, Carl, and Michonne are on their way to Terminus, but they've been forced to make a detour. Michonne really just wants to cheer the boys up, after all they've been through. What is she up to now?


Summary: A brief interlude in Team Richonne's journey to Terminus. Michonne just wants to cheer up Rick and Carl a little, but what is she up to now?

A/N: This is fluff (slight Richonne pre-ship, of course!), because the finale is probably going to be rather traumatic and you're going to need some cheering up! I just want these three to live together as a happy family!

...

Georgia Peaches

The day started off rough. A large herd of walkers came across the railroad tracks, forcing them to run and dart behind trees until they were clear of danger, but unfortunately several miles out of their way. By early afternoon they'd stumbled into an overgrown peach orchard.

Michonne and Rick sat in the shade, leaning against the tree trunk, munching on peaches. Carl lay on his back in the soft grass, hands behind his head, hat lowered over his eyes.

Michonne polished of the last few bites of her peach and tossed the pit into the grass. It was really a stroke of luck to find this place. After walking, sometimes running, for days on end they definitely needed a rest, if only for a little while.

She looked over at Rick. His injuries from his showdown with the Governor looked for the most part healed, but she could tell he hadn't regained his full strength quite yet.

It was good to see him relax for a few minutes, but she worried when he got that far-away look in his eyes. He was thinking about what he couldn't talk about, broken fences and an empty baby-carrier.

Michonne had figured out quickly that the easiest and maybe the only way to cheer Rick up was to cheer Carl up and so she had made doing so her new number one goal in life. That is, aside from cutting down errant walkers and staying one step ahead of any other scavengers, of course.

As she looked thoughtfully at the leafy branches above them, heavy with ripe peaches, inspiration struck.

Rick picked up a new peach from the small pile by his side, wiped some crumbs of dirt off on his shirt, and brought the soft fruit to his mouth.

Michonne leaned over and snatched the peach right out of his hand, just as he was about to take a bite.

"Hey!" Rick said in alarm.

Michonne stood up before he could do anything, giving him a teasing smile.

"Michonne!" he protested, bewildered at her sudden actions. Was she playing with him?

"Relax," she said casually, "I want to show you something."

She reached down and picked up her sword, slinging it across her back, and walked several paces so that she was out from under the tree branches. She looked around in all directions, making sure she had a good amount of space, still holding the stolen fruit in her hand.

"What's going on?" Carl asked groggily, peeking out from under his hat.

Rick made to stand up and follow her, but Michonne held out her palm, instructing, "No, stay there."

He looked so confused, it was actually rather adorable, Michonne thought to herself, unable to stifle a grin.

Now very curious, Carl sat up to see what was happening.

"Just watch," Michonne ordered.

She held the peach in front of her, tossed it gently and caught it again, glanced upwards then back at the peach. Her expression softened. She looked calm, completely focused on the peach in her right hand, back perfectly straight, left hand lightly steadying the end of her sword sheath.

Rick frowned and Carl held his breath, waiting expectantly for whatever was about to happen.

Michonne tossed the peach straight up, sending it sailing high into the air. One, two, three heartbeats then the peach started falling back to earth.

In the blink of an eye, Michonne drew her sword and swung it laterally in front of her chest, neatly slicing the falling peach in half. Two peachy hemispheres landed in the grass at her feet.

She looked up to see her audience's appropriately stunned expressions.

"Well damn…" Rick drawled, clearly very impressed, which pleased her more than she had thought it would.

"Whoa!" Carl exclaimed, excitedly running to pick up the remains of the peach, "That was awesome!"

Rick smiled, adding, "Did I mention how happy I am you're on our side?"

Michonne laughed at that. She flicked her wrist to dislodge any specks of peach juice from her blade and slid it back into the holder.

"That was so cool!" Carl was happily examining the peach, cut into two near-even halves, "It cut through the pit and everything! You were so fast, I almost didn't see it!"

Michonne took one of the halves from him, brushed off a few blades of grass, and tossed it to Rick.

"Dad, did you know she could do that?" Carl asked, still amazed.

"Nope," Rick shook his head, grinning around a large bite of juicy peach. It was often easy to forget how young Carl still was, so moments like this really warmed Rick's heart. It was good to see his son drop his guard and smile and get excited like he used to.

"Come on, there's probably a farmhouse around here somewhere," Rick said, scooping a few more peaches into his duffle bag and standing to join Carl and Michonne, "Maybe we'll stay here for the night, loop on back towards the tracks in the morning. We can make Terminus in two, three days, tops."

He knew they had to keep moving, but this right here, camping out with his son and the woman who had somehow become so important to his family, really wasn't so bad.

"Carl, you eat enough?" Rick asked.

"Yeah. If I eat any more I'll puke!"

"Well, please don't do that," Michonne added, making Carl laugh.

Rick smiled and took another bite of his sweet Georgia peach.

THE END.


End file.
